Turnabout Outbreak
by Kobayashi Sakoori-kun
Summary: To seek the truth and protect the innocent; for that is a part of their creeds. Lawyers, doctors and a professor must put all three of their heads together in order to solve the unthinkable. [Post AA5/GS5][Post TC-NB][Post PL-UF]
1. Prologue- Phoenix Wright

Title: Turnabout Outbreak  
Series: Ace Attorney/Professor Layton/Trauma Center  
Summary: To seek the truth and protect the innocent; for that is a part of their creeds. A new form of evil will cause a certain team of doctors, lawyers and a professor to come together and use their minds to find the true culprit.

A/N: As you may guess, it's a crossover fiction. TRIPLE SERIES CROSSOVER YEAH! I'm excited to write this but I also fear that I'm going to abandon it when school gets insane. This story takes place about a year after Dual Destinies (but none of the characters from DD, besides Athena and Blackquill, will appear in the story). Certain circumstances have changed, and this story takes place in Los Angeles in 2029. Each chapter will be written in one character's point of view. Possible spoilers for any of the 3 game series. That's enough of this. Now onto the prologue.

* * *

It's been over a month since I last got a client at the Agency. Apollo got a case all the way out in Maryland, so he left last weekend to go accept the case. The circumstances of that case dates back to over 15 years ago. I can clearly remember the headlines from that day. I could never forget something as important as that event.

Cumberland College.

I can only remember the details in vague from the top of my head, but that case got worldwide attention. It was the Summer of 2012. It was a normal day here in Los Angeles and pretty much most the country for that matter. It all changed when the news headline exploded with sheer chaos that afternoon. I was at home, studying for my third exam for my last year in high school. I got early acceptance into Ivy University, so it honestly didn't matter if I failed this one exam. I left the TV on the national news network and I was aimlessly trying to read through my notes for this exam. I guess I fell asleep after an hour of trying to do so, because the next thing I remember, I was staring at the TV's hypnotizing screen; lost in the headlines in horror.

Bioterrorist Attack In Maryland Leaves 20 Dead; Suspect In Custody

I felt sick to my stomach. Even thinking about it now makes me want to hurl. I watched the screen as the shock and terror burned itself into my mind. They caught the guy so soon. It didn't make sense. I always felt uneasy every time that case is mentioned. I always felt like it wasn't fair. My mind must be playing tricks on me. I've always felt that the trial for the suspect was one-sided and the defense did nothing to defend for their client. At the end of it all, the suspect was convicted for bioterrorism and sentenced to 250 years in prison.

What was that judge thinking? No human can live for 250 years. Not many people can live past 65 here. How do they expect someone like that to survive a whole 250 year sentence?

That case was one of the reasons why I signed up for a university elective in Intro to Law. I never actually considered a full career in law until my mentor, Mia Fey, saved me from getting convicted of a murder that I didn't commit. Instead, she convicted who I thought was my university sweetheart, Dahlia Hawthorne. I didn't realize that the 'Dahlia Hawthorne' I fell in love with was her twin sister, Iris Hawthorne, until that case about 10 years ago, in which my assistant at the time, Maya Fey, channeled the dead spirit of Dahlia in order to prevent Dahlia from killing her. I've had my fair share of insane before I lost my attorney badge. Now that I have it back, let's just say it's good to be back.

I hope Apollo does well in the retrial for Cumberland College. Although they figured out the true culprit was the professor of virology at Cumberland, Albert Sartre, they haven't had time to schedule a retrial until now. It's been about 9 years since the deadly Rosalia Virus outbreak and the resolution of the bioterrorism case. I guess that's what you could call another fault of the 'Dark Ages of Law'.

My name is Phoenix Wright. I run what most consider a disgrace of a law firm, the Wright Anything Agency. I have two new lawyers working for me, named Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes. My daughter, Trucy Enigmar, no; Trucy Wright is also employed at this 'talent agency' as a stage magician. I guess you could say that I'm an 'ace attorney' or a person who's able to turn around a trial into my own favour. Life for me was never this easy, especially because the media's always after me after every huge trial on this side of Los Angeles.

Everyone at the Wright Anything Agency has something special. A 'talent', as Trucy likes to call it, but a 'gift' is what I prefer. What are these 'gifts' you may ask? Well to bluntly put it, I have none. My other employees are all special in one way or another. I mean, Apollo can perceive the slightest twitch in someone's testimony and can pinpoint why they are lying. It's hereditary in the Gramarye Family because Trucy has it too. I never told the two that they're half siblings. I may never tell them. It's not my business.

Athena also has a 'gift' as well. She was born with the ability to hear the voices of a human's heart and she uses it to her advantage in the courtroom. Call it cheating, but I call it "using tools in a toolbox". It's not like I didn't cheated the court system a few times in my life. Analytical psychology really helped me in many of my cases with Athena as the co-counsel.

Life was slow and quiet as the days passed by in sadness and melancholy. I envy my past and I'm dreading tomorrow. My co-workers are all somewhere else. Apollo's in Maryland, taking on the case for the retrial of the Cumberland College Incident. Athena is currently out with Trucy at one of Trucy's magic shows. She was dying to be Trucy's assistant in one of her shows and I guess this is one of those cases.

You could call me a loner in one sense. I mean, all my friends either 'hate' me or are on business. Or both for that matter. It's been 3 months since I last talked with Edgeworth. He left for Zheng Fa to deal with some sort of Interpol-related business. Guess they weren't off of his ass about what happened the first time he went there.

And me? What should I do, now that I'm alone and bored. I could get a few bottles of scotch and see how many glasses it took before I passed out on the floor. Or maybe I could rent out some 'films' and watch them. Scratch that idea. If I end up doing both, who knows how many blood-curling screams I'll hear from Athena and Trucy.

My name is Phoenix Wright and I never expected my life could turn upside down like this until now. The next few months of my life have bigger plot twists than a psychological novel and many of my past cases combined together.

It all started that one day when I got two calls from my colleagues; The professor of archeology at Gressenheller University in England and the head surgeon of Caduceus USA. By the time they called me, I knew that it was a battle of life or death. They could all die for all I know and I won't be able to save them. I'm only useful in court and that's about it.

My job isn't to get my client a 'not guilty' verdict. My job is to believe in my client and fight to the bitter end. My mentor taught me those words and I've never forgotten them since.

But I can't fight to the bitter end. Not in this situation.

* * *

A/N: Well that's about it for the prologue. Until next time, don't do drugs and stay in school!


	2. Chapter 1- Professor Layton

Chapter 1

A/N: It's time to build the plot.

* * *

To begin something without formally introducing myself isn't something I would do at all, but the circumstances surrounding this case leaves me no time to talk about such things. I may be an English gentleman, but when a mystery arises, I am always on the case.

Or so I thought.

It was about a month ago. I've gotten myself into a special archeology conference in Los Angeles and I could not be more excited about it. I was getting ready to go to America a month before I was scheduled to fly over when I received some surprising news via a phone call to my office at Gressenheller.

My friend and self-proclaimed assistant, Luke Triton, called me and asked what I'm getting myself into these days. He sounded like he was desperate for an adventure again, just like the old days before he moved away from London.

Naturally, I told him I was going to teach a special archeology class in Los Angeles and he begged me to take him with me. Some things don't change about him. Luke has matured a lot ever since we parted ways a few years back. Our last adventure together involved something out of the ordinary. You could say it 'ripped the fabric of space and time' as I quote.

We got involved with a huge mystery that caught international attention. The Prime Minister at the time, Bill Hawks, disappeared in a supposed 'time travel' incident. It involved a colleague of my sweetheart, Claire, who deliberately set up a kidnapping of the Prime Minister and covered it up to look like the Prime Minister actually time travelled into the future. It got very confusing as I found out later that Claire did not die in the explosion that happened ten years prior, but she actually travelled into the future before the machine exploded.

I still live in pain of that day. Claire is gone from this world. No words can explain the sadness and melancholy that still lurks in my heart to this day. Oh, how I wish she could have stayed in the future with me, but alas, that would destroy the fabric of space and time. The top hat I wear right now is a memento from her when we were… dating, as many would put it.

I loved her then, I love her now and I will love her forever. I wish I could have stopped her before she went on with the experiment.

If I only knew she would die, I would have saved her.

I was snapped out of my trance when the other side of the phone shouted "Professor!"

"My apologies, Luke. I seemed to have dazed off." I replied.

"It's okay, Professor! I can't wait to go to America with you!"

His father was really lenient with him coming to America with me. I guess he must have opened up to international traveling after Luke helped me solve what happened to the Prime Minister back then.

A month passed and here I was, standing with Luke outside of the terminal, awaiting our flight to come in and begin to board. Luke has gotten quite taller the last time I remembered. It must have been puberty. We all go through it and it changes you physically and psychologically. I remember those days, but that was the past.

"Flight 358C for Los Angeles, United States of America is now boarding in Terminal 8." was the static intercom message. I nudged Luke awake and told him we were about to board the plane.

It was a long flight to Los Angeles. If you were to put it into perspective, it would be 11 hours and 20 minutes of sitting on the plane. Thank heavens I booked a flight that left at 9:30 PM. It was a tiring day as I recalled, so I fell asleep about 10 minutes after the flight took off. After all, you need to be well rested before you make a timezone adjustment.

As we arrived at Los Angeles International, or LAX as it's abbreviated, there was an escort from University of California, Los Angeles, or UCLA, there to take both Luke and myself to the hotel that they arranged for us. I say, they made a lot of fuss over just one class. They insisted after an hour of rebuttal and I gave in.

Once we reached the hotel, it was about 12:40 in the morning. I decided to take a shower and then I went to sleep soon afterwards. I've never felt this tired in my life and I don't know why.

Little did I know, the dream I had that night was my intuition telling me that something bad is going to happen. Little did I know I was going to get roped into something that I may never escape.

I awoke to the quiet sound the the telly in my hotel room. Luke was watching what seemed to be a national news network. I was watching the headline of the news story that was being broadcasted and I can remember that day all too well.

Cumberland College.

That bioterrorist attack on Cumberland College almost 15 years ago that killed 20 people. They caught the terrorist, but my intuition thought differently. Turns out, they finally found out that the terrorist wasn't the person they arrested, but the professor of virology at Cumberland, Albert Sartre. Since that day 9 years ago, they haven't been able to schedule a retrial due to the 'Dark Ages of Law' in America. The dark ages came to an end after the renowned defense attorney, Phoenix Wright, finally solved the UR-1 Incident a year after he got his attorney badge back.

Phoenix Wright. That name brings back some memories. We met before the whole time travel fiasco. He came to Britain on business and he brought his assistant who happened to be a spirit medium, Maya Fey. We met in the most unlikely of circumstances, but together, we solved a mystery that plagued the minds of a village. There's no time to get into the details of that case, but let's just say that supernatural things can happen.

The digital clock read 9:52. I looked out the window and it was sunny and warm outside. Not bad for a summer day in Los Angeles, knowing the fact that the mornings can go from anywhere from 10 degrees Celsius to about 30 degrees.

"Good morning, Professor!" came the cheery call from Luke. He was all dressed up and ready for anything. I couldn't help but smile at his eagerness.

"Good morning, Luke. Ready to go sight-seeing before we head off to the lecture hall?" I asked him as I proceeded to walk towards the bathroom to freshen up.

"We are?! Oh, this will be so much fun, Professor!" he replied back with the biggest smile you could ever see on his face.

After I got dressed and we had some breakfast, I packed up my briefcase with some papers and specimen for the lecture later and we left the hotel and began to walk around the bustling streets of Downtown Los Angeles. My, the city is more chaotic compared to London. I guess it's what you could call a culture shock.

We were in Little Tokyo when I looked at my pocketwatch and realized it was time to head to the lecture hall at UCLA for my class on archeology. I looked at Luke, who was staring at the delicate and mouthwatering pastries in a bakery window. I've been craving something sweet for a while now and this is a perfect opportunity to satisfy my sweet tooth. I asked Luke if he wanted to go in to buy some cake or something else. He eagerly nodded his head and we went inside to buy crêpes and a few donuts.

I called the chauffeur they arranged to come and pick us up and drop us off at the campus. During the ride there, I felt very uneasy for some reason. My intuition told me something was going to go wrong and do I regret not listening to it.

Once we arrived at the lecture hall, I opened the door and I was greeted by a sight that made me sick to my stomach. Luke ran away as soon as he saw what lied on the other side of the door.

The sheer horror of what I saw could never be erased from history.

The entire lecture hall was filled with bodies. Most of them were dead or dying. What shocked me the most was that the dead bodies were slowly turning into dust. Some turned into a fine, white colour while some turned into a coarse, black colour. In the middle of the whole mess of the dead, stood an average male, too scared to even move. He couldn't stop staring at a certain body and he got onto his knees and held the body close to him and began crying.

He held a woman in his arms. She was beautiful and I have no idea why he would hold her so close to him, but it struck me after I calmed myself down mentally.

They looked like identical twins.

I was about to step foot into the room when I heard the rampage of a few detectives and the police come from behind me and they pushed me out of the way.

`You there! You're under arrest for committing a massacre in this lecture hall!" came the order from what seemed like the head detective.

"Wait! You can't possibly arrest this poor man!" I called out.

"Hershel Layton, I'm terribly sorry, but he is a suspect in this incident. We must arrest him and put him on trial." came a voice from behind me.

I turned around, only to be greeted by a man who was about the same age as me. He was sporting a pair of rimless glasses, a long, dark vermilion coat and a cravat.

"And you are…?" I asked.

"The prosecutor of this case, Miles Edgeworth." he replied calmly.

"Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth!" the police force said in unison.

"I want everyone alive out of this room. There is a forensic expert coming in to assess the situation and determine the cause of death." he sternly ordered before walking out of the room.

"Sir!" they replied as they escorted the suspect out and cleared the room.

I couldn't let that man get falsely convicted for a crime that he didn't do. I took out my cellphone and I dialed the only number I knew in America.

Phoenix Wright of the Wright Anything Agency.

The renowned 'Ace Attorney'. The British media loves to call every one of his trials a 'Turnabout Trial'. I knew Mr. Wright could take on this case. He and I think alike. We both believe that we should protect the innocent and seek the truth.

"Wright Anything Agency; This is Phoenix Wright speaking."

"Mr. Wright, I have a client for you to defend."

"Wait. Is this… Professor Layton?"

"Yes. I've called you because I got you a new client. Are you up for defending someone?"

"Hold on! What am I defending against?"

"Come to UCLA. I'm in the Geographical Studies building lecture hall. I'll brief you more on the situation."

"I'll be there. I'll be bringing two people with me."

I hung up after that. My mind was lost in confusion. I'm dying to investigate this matter, but the police will not let me in. I couldn't sit around any longer, so I went to search for Luke, who seemed to have ran away.

That was when I passed someone mysterious.

She had grey hair bound into what seemed like a messy ponytail and her attire was a little… revealing. I turned around to look at her, when it finally hit me.

She was the infamous forensic expert, Naomi Kimishima and she was the head forensic detective of this case.

I couldn't lose my only chance of investigating, but fate had other things for me to do.

"Professor!" I heard the call from Luke. I knew that I couldn't abandon a child at a time of need, so as much as I couldn't stand it, I forced myself to go to Luke than to feed my dying urge to seek the truth. I ran towards him and he kept staring at the wall.

"This mystery has more to it than we originally thought."

Needless to say, I, Professor Hershel Layton, am going to be lost in a twisted tale that I may not escape out of alive.

* * *

A/N: Did I do it right.


	3. Chapter 2- Derek Stiles

Chapter 2

A/N: Oh boy I get to test out how to write a surgery out in first person! This is going to end up so bad in the end.

* * *

What's the day anyways? I lost track ever since that first surgery back from Japan.

The name's Derek Stiles. I used to be a surgeon under Caduceus Japan when the Stigma outbreak happened. Now that it's all cooled off, they transferred me back to Caduceus USA and I got promoted to head surgeon. Life sucks right now; for me, anyways. Ever since that promotion, I've been getting no clients whatsoever, so I'm wasting my life, doing absolutely nothing, except screwing off and watching television. I NEEDED to get a client and fast. I hated wasting my life and surgical skills doing nothing. I was so bored with life that I was at the point of quitting my job.

That was until I got a client.

He was an illustration major at Art Center of Design in San Diego. Honestly, out of all the patients I've had, this has to be one of the weirdest surgeries I would have ever performed. There was a downside to accepting this client and that was I had to drive almost 10 hours from the Caduceus office in Los Angeles up to the hospital in San Diego, where I was to perform the surgery. It's a simple procedure, really. The patient has developed severe carpal tunnel syndrome from endless art project after art project. I was wondering how he would have the money to pay for the surgery since fine arts majors have to spend money on art supplies and have little left for food. I was a bit concerned on how I was going to get paid until I realized that his family was rich. Like capitalist rich. They make more money per day than I will in a year; and I'm a world famous surgeon.

When I was driving north to go meet him, I always had the impression that all rich kids were all narcissists and spoiled. I was wrong. Kid's actually trying to make a living without relying on his family's wealth. I admire someone like that, but I also pity him as well. I mean, let's face it; They needed artists back when the Romans and Greeks existed when the time was still ending in BCE. Now, it's just a fight for survival in the fine arts industry. It's an investment of money, really. If your art gets famous, you'll get money, but when you look at it, all the great artists died and then got famous. Van Gogh, Da Vinci, Klimt are just some of the many.

"I still don't know why you would take a case like this 8 hours away from the office." I heard the complaint from my nurse, Angie Thompson. Well, I guess her real name is Angela Blackwell- You know what; Let's just not.

I let out a loud sigh. I was not in the mood to argue with anyone; especially not with her. "Can we just have a peaceful drive for once? I haven't had a case in over a year and I'm dying to get back into the game."

I heard her flip through pages of the initial diagnosis. I could tell she was skimming through it to see what we're dealing with.

"Hey. It says that the patient shows abnormalities in his white blood cell and platelet count and they disregarded it as unimportant. Is this why you took the case?"

"What? It says that?" I was shocked. Why did the diagnostician leave out something so vital? It could be costly later, so I made a note to myself. It's going to affect the patient's recovery if there aren't enough platelets to clot the incision. It'll be much worse if it gets infected and the poor fellow can't fight off the infection. "What's his blood type, Angie?"

"It says it was 'undefined'. That's strange. Blood typing is a simple test."

"Didn't I read an article on a new pathogen found inside the body that can prevent doctors from defining your blood type the other day?"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Derek?"

"It was in 'Advancing Chemistry' last week!"

"'Advancing Chemistry'? Derek, that doesn't exist! Are you sure you're not tired or delusional?"

Was I delusional? I have been driving for the past 5 hours. Maybe it was time to stop for a break. I decided to drive through the next exit to the nearest rest station. After all, what kind of doctor would I be if I was the one to get sick from something as stupid as fatigue? Plus I was getting kind of sick from Angie's constant question and bicker process.

I got out to stretch my legs and I dragged myself into the fast food restaurant to buy something to eat. I know, the stuff in fast food can hardly be considered food, but when you're hungry, you'd eat anything, right? I looked at my watch to check the time. It was already 3 PM. There was about another 2 hours worth of driving until I hit the city limits of San Diego and another hour to get through rush hour traffic to get to the hospital there. Man, how I hate driving. Angie was fiddling around with the satellite radio that I installed in my car and she was looking for the news networks. I could guess why. It's probably time for the verdict to be given out.

The verdict of the retrial of the Cumberland College Bioterrorist Attack.

The incident 15 years ago that caused a prodigy medical student to take the blame for a bioterrorist attack that he didn't commit. His mentor, Albert Sartre, caused the incident because the laboratory's contained virus trays fell over and caused the spread of the Rosalia Virus within the school and the inevitable death of 20 people. Ever since the viral outbreak of Rosalia back in 2020, they found the truth about what happened at Cumberland College on that fateful day in 2012. It's been 9 years since they finally brought the Cumberland College incident to light and cleared the name of the kid who was falsely convicted and due to the Dark Ages of Law, they couldn't find a time for the retrial.

"Breaking news from the state court in Portland, Maryland! Renowned Los Angeles attorney, Apollo Justice has further shattered the prosecution's claims for the Cumberland College retrial and has caused the court to go into its' second day of trial! Defense attorney Justice says that he has 'solid evidence' to turn around the case! We will bring you more when we know the facts!" was the extremely excited voice from the radio.

"Not bad, Justice." I muttered under my breath.

Angie didn't seem to hear it by the looks of it. Thank goodness.

Apollo Justice. He's the protegé of Phoenix Wright, the infamous 'Turnabout Trial' defense attorney known for his outrageous claims. We met in an unlikely circumstance. He came into the ICU one day because he fell into a river, trying to cross a bridge on fire in order to save his assistant. He said it was to protect her, I say it was done out of love. I can always give him a call if I have some legal problems because of some of the patients. He knows how to handle everything legal, I guess.

I checked my watch as I rolled up to a traffic light. It was almost 7 PM and we were almost there at the hospital. I was starting to get sick of driving through San Diego during rush hour traffic. Not as bad as Los Angeles during rush hour, but still pretty awful compared to everywhere else. I let out a loud yawn. I'm glad I have some time to sleep before I go into the operating room. This'll give me time to check in with my patient and ask them a few questions.

* * *

As I walked into the patient's room, he was nowhere to be seen. I was about to start panicking until Angie did it for me.

"Where did he go, Doctor Stiles?!" she demanded me for an answer.

"Calm down! He'll show up soon enough!" I answered.

"Um, who are you people?" came a voice from behind me. I was hesitant, but I turned around to look at the direction of the voice.

"I'm Derek Stiles…?"

"Oh! Doctor Stiles! I almost didn't recognize you for a second!" the shorter male replied with relief.

"You must be Tovio Karlsson then." I replied.

"Indeed, I am. Thank you for taking my case in these circumstances.I hope it wasn't such a pain to drive here, Doctor."

Oh you have no idea. "No, not at all!" I lied as I gave him a huge grin while scratching the back of my head to prevent myself from exploding.

He laughed at my facial expression. "Oh Doctor Stiles; There`s no need to lie! San Diego traffic is awful!"

I was awkwardly laughing when I remembered his unknown blood type. "Ah Mr. Karlsson. About your blood type…"

"My blood type? It's A- if I'm not mistaken…"

"Then why does your blood type on this chart say 'undefined' instead of A-?"

"That's weird. Oh well. It could always be a mechanical error!"

"Doctor Stiles, we need to remember that his blood type is undefined. It could cause problems later along with the loss of white blood cells and platelet count."

"Yeah." I made a mental note to myself to remember later. "Well, we should let you get some rest, Mr. Karlsson. Your surgery is tomorrow and I promise you, your carpal tunnel will fade and you can continue to draw or paint or… What is it that you do…?"

"Design. I'm a graphic design student. Not that anyone else knows, Doctor Stiles!"

"Aha... Right…"

* * *

I woke up around what was it? 10 AM? The television was on the news and the station was going mad with the whole Day 2 of Cumberland College Retrial. I watched the screen as Defense Attorney Justice walk through the doors of the entranceway into the building, followed by Prosecutor McCoy and a storm of media reporters and cameramen. This trial's so big, I'm surprised both of them can handle the stress.

"Good luck, Justice." I muttered under my breath as I got off of the couch in the staff lounge. I must have fell asleep in the staff lounge after I went to get some food. Geez…

"Doctor Stiles?" I heard Angie's voice from behind. "Why aren't you ready yet? The surgery's about to begin in 20 minutes!"

"Crap!" I put on my lab coat and bolted towards the Operating Room. I had to disinfect myself in 10 minutes or else I won't have enough time to perform the surgery! I crashed into the double hinged doors that separated the emergency room from the surgery briefing room.

"Late as usual, huh, Derek Stiles?"

"You..!"

Before me stood Markus Vaughn. The other surgeon I know who possesses the same 'Healing Touch' as me. He was also the 'father' of the Stigma virus that caused the outbreak.

"I heard you needed an extra hand from Nurse Thompson, so I came to your aid."

"A-Angie! I don't need help with this one!"

"I ran some unauthorized tests on the patient." Angie began as she slammed some papers on the table. "The MRI scan on his right wrists show something else. It's not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome like it was originally thought to be." She pointed to some shadows in the photo. "Whatever this is, it's the source of the problem. That's why I called Doctor Vaughn to come and assist you."

I got into the scrubs and began to use that awful soap to disinfect my arms and hands. "So we're up against something unknown, huh?"

"Seems like it." said Markus. "Well, whatever it is, let's work together to eradicate it, Derek."

"Yeah. Whatever it is, I'll make it disappear."

We walked into the operating room and my first intention was to grab the disinfectant gel and the scalpel. Markus put his hand over my wrist.

"Hold on, we need to debrief who's doing what."

"We need to open up the wrist first to assess the problem. Then we'll deal with who does what!"

I quickly put the gel on the wrist and made a large incision into the skin and with the extra forceps, I pushed the skin open to reveal the wrist's veins, arteries and nerves.

"What the hell?!"

I was staring at some sort of black capsule lodged into the median nerve. I was about to use the forceps to grab them when the black box began to rumble.

"Congrats, Derek Stiles. You did exactly what I wanted you to do. So sorry it had to end this way." was a static voice coming from the black capsule.

"Is it a bomb?!" Markus was demanding.

I had no time to reply. The 'bomb' had already gone off and it blew up the nerves of the patient. His wrist started to crystallize into white crystals and they began to spread up his arm and then manifested to take over his body. The EKG meter was off the charts as this was happening. I stumbled back and fell over.

"Doctor Stiles!" I heard Angie call out.

"Stand back!" I shouted. I tried to activate my Healing Touch, but it wasn't responding. Time didn't stop. I was shocked. Markus saw my attempt and he also tried to do so, but like me, it didn't work either. I stared at my hands. "Is this… The end…"

The patient's body began to fall apart into fine white particles. The EKG reading was a steady, horizontal line.

"Dammit...!"

"What the hell was that…"

I never knew what I was up against. What was the message? What was that capsule anyways?

How did they know my name?

There's more to this case than I originally thought.

* * *

It's been a half hour since what happened in the operating room. I couldn't think of anything. I took out my cell phone and I dialed someone who knew ordinary didn't exist.

"Wright Anything Agency, Phoenix Wright speaking."

"Wright, I'm about to get blamed for the death of one of my patients and I might get my ass sued. Think you could help me out of this pickle?"

"Derek Stiles. What happened?" I heard his voice say.

"I don't know," I began. "but I think it's related to Cumberland College in one way."

"You don't say? Look, I have to get going. Professor Hershel Layton just called me. Something about his UCLA conference. Watch the news for me, will you?" he hung up after that.

I turned on the television. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Bioterrorist Attack At UCLA; 43 Dead; Suspect In Custody

"It can't possibly be…!"

* * *

A/N: Working on chapters throughout the week is a pain in the ass. So little time and so much math that I probably won't do.


	4. Chapter 3- CR-S01

Chapter 3

A/N: Hopefully, the chapters get longer and longer as this thing goes on. I get to write a trial in third person for once. _  
Natural light is very bright. Almost as bright as the lights from the lab on that day almost 15 years ago. The day where I took the blame. The day where he left me alone and took my dear sister with him. I could never forget that day. It's always been a part of me, even though I could never remember what had happened to me until 9 years ago. Come to think of it, I don't remember my name or what I was studying to become. I doubt I was majoring in virology if I can perform surgery without remembering how I learned to.

* * *

How did I learn how to perform surgery? Who am I really?

All these unanswered questions I may never find the answers to. My biological parents are dead. My adoptive father and sister are both dead. I have no one. I'm alone in this world; Left behind to find out the reason why I'm still alive. What did I do to deserve this? I may never know.

Today's the day I learn the truth of what happened. The truth about the case where I was wrongfully convicted. The case that caused the Rosalia outbreak in 2020.

Cumberland College.

My alma mater. The place where I lost everything. My memories. My family. My friends. Everything. It was all gone in the blink of an eye, or in my case, a needle in the back. I lost everything and I awake to my limp, half-conscious body being escorted out of the lab and outside. I was blinded by the flashes of the media cameras and I felt ill at that point. I could have probably gotten a seizure during that whole swarm of reporters asking millions of questions. I felt my hands bound behind me and I couldn't move them out front. I was getting arrested, but I didn't know for what. It all changed on the first day of court, a few months later.

"I hereby sentence you to 250 years in cryostasis with no chance at parole. Court is dismissed!" and with that line and the bang from the gavel, my fate was sealed.

I rotted away in prison for a good 8 years. I'm surprised I didn't die from hypothermia by staying in that cell. Even at 0 degrees Celsius, bacteria can still develop. At least, that's what Doctor Cunningham told me that day.

It took 8 years before I was able to trade off years of prison in exchange for complex surgeries where the success rate was below 20%. I was only able to trade off 26 years for only 5 surgeries, if memory serves me correct. It wasn't a lot of years, seeing as I had 216 years left at that point. I went back to my cold and quiet cell and I didn't hear from the outside world until the Rosalia outbreak a few weeks later.

I didn't realize that the outbreak was that serious until one of the guards came to escort me out of my cryostasis cell, where he collapsed in front of my eyes. I couldn't let the innocent die from a disease in which I KNEW how to treat. I saw my chance to escape from that place when another guard was frozen in fear to move or shoot me. I dashed out of the complex and assimilated my looks into the vacant streets of Portland. My first instinct was to assess the severity of the outbreak by going to the emergency ward of Resurgam.

There were so many patients to treat and so little support and equipment to cope with it. I had to act fast and I needed to save at least one person to see how the virus had mutated. As soon as I saw a man collapse while coughing blood, I ran over to him and I lifted him up and proceeded to go to the operating room. That was when I was stopped by someone I knew all too well.

Ian Holden; The man who will forever hate me because he thought I was the one who killed his wife and daughter. The main antagonist in my life.

His eyes were filled with hatred, all hidden behind those black shades he always wears to hide his emotions. "Release the hostage and leave. Don't make me shoot you." he ordered as he held me at gunpoint.

"You have to know by now that the quarantine has failed. Get out of the way. I want to treat this patient." I looked at him and replied.

"You're a fugitive. I can't authorize that operation."

"Then shoot me. I'm not abandoning this person to die. This… is what you taught me to be." I told him as I walked past him, carrying the patient.

And with that conversation, began my journey to seek the truth of what really happened 15 years ago. What happened at Cumberland College. What happened to my memories. What happened to my life and everything that I once cherished and loved. Soon after that surgery, I remembered everything about the virus. I remembered everything about it. I remember Rosalia and Professor Sartre. I remember how to treat the virus and where the antiserum is.

But I couldn't do much about it. I was a fugitive. I was inferior to normal society. I could only tell what I believed was the truth. I can't remember everything. Even now, I still can't. My name. My parents. My past. My dreams. All that is still so dark and cold to me. It's painful, not knowing who you are besides a fugitive that knows the answers to resolving a virus outbreak. I can't live a life, knowing that this would be my only use. I had to remember my past, no matter the cost.

My first obstacle that stood in my way was my prison sentence.

* * *

After the Rosalia outbreak, Holden apprehended me and and took me back to my cryostasis cell to rot away until my retrial. The retrial that I had to wait 9 more grueling years for. The retrial that was delayed 9 years due to the so called 'Dark Ages of Law'. This era apparently started even before I was able to repeal my sentence through surgeries. April 19, 2019. The day renowned defense attorney, Phoenix Wright, gets disbarred for presenting forged evidence. It was later proven 7 years later that Phoenix Wright was framed and the true culprit who framed him was also the brother of the prosecutor for that case. Even with that case solved, there was another case that happened a year after Phoenix Wright got disbarred. UR-1. The death of a renowned psychologist at GYAXA. The supposed killer took the blame and was sentenced to death, but they never carried out the execution after Phoenix Wright and his team of lawyers proved him innocent. I wonder how Blackquill is doing now.

After the Rosalia outbreak, I got transferred to a Los Angeles prison because I was hired to perform some surgeries there. That was where I met him, sitting on death row, not caring about what he did. They placed us in the same cell because he was also working while serving hard time, like me. I learned that he was studying to be a prosecutor and that he even passed the bar exam before he ended up behind bars. I looked at him in the eyes and I could feel that he wasn't the real culprit behind whatever he had 'done'.

"You didn't kill the victim, did you?" I asked him.

He looked up at the ceiling of the cell and then back down to his hands. "No. I simply decided to take the blame to protect someone I hold dear to me. She meant everything to me and I couldn't see an innocent child like her end up somewhere like here for someone both of us never committed." He looked at me in the eyes. "You're wrongfully accused too. You didn't cause the bioterrorist attack, did you?"

I sighed heavily and looked down. "I can't remember. All I have are vague memories of the events that happened and even then, I can't trust myself or what I remember."

"When's the retrial?"

"Don't know. Whenever this so called 'Dark Age of Law' ends."

"That might be never, kid. I caused that age to happen. Even when I'm dead, the age will continue."

I met the 'guilty party' of the UR-1 incident that day. Soon afterwards, he got a case to prosecute and I had a busy schedule of surgeries to do, so I never saw him again.

* * *

"Good morning. You seem to be ready for the second part of the trial." I heard the voice from in front of me.

"Oh!" I replied, startled. "Good morning, Mr. Justice. I heard you had decisive evidence that will turn the case around."

"Oh! Right! I have it right here, but it's best to show it when we're in the courtroom." he replied as he patted his briefcase on the side. "I'll do my best to win this case for you!"

I couldn't control myself and I smiled. "Thank you."

"Mr. Justice, court is about to begin. Please proceed to the defense desk." was the stoic demand from the bailiff. Mr. Justice walked through the door and I followed behind, being escorted by the security guard and Holden.

"Court is now in session for the retiral of cryostasis prisoner CR-S01! All rise!" was the call from the honourable judge. Everyone rose from their seats and sat back down after the gavel was banged.

"The defense is fine, Your Honour!" I heard the bellow from Mr. Justice's so called 'Chords of Steel'.

"Mr. Justice, I request that you keep your voice down." the judge replied with a slight chuckle in his voice.

"Ah! Sorry, Your Honour." he replied while scratching the back of his head with a big, cheeky grin plastered on his face.

"Now then, is the prosecution ready?" the judge said, turning his attention towards the prosecution's desk.

"Ready as I'll ever be, Your Honour." was the answer from Prosecutor McCoy.

"Good. Now then, please summarize the courtroom on the events of yesterday's trial." the judge said.

"Yesterday, we revealed that the defendant, Prisoner No. CR-S01, was in fact part of the research for the Rosalia virus and he was in the building at the time of the bioterrorist attack. The prosecution's claim is that he is, in fact, the terrorist behind the incident due to the fact that he did not exhibit symptoms of the virus because he had the antiserum within his blood, thus making it the perfect crime."

"I hope you have evidence to back up your claim, Prosecutor McCoy." the judge replied sternly.

"I do, Your Honour." he then proceeded to pull out an envelope and inside the envelope contained what I could assume was the blood test results from the sample that they took from me earlier. "This chart shows the defendant's blood results and it tested positive for an unknown pathogen that we can only assume is the antiserum to treat the Rosalia virus. This is proof that the defendant was the one who committed the crime!" the prosecutor exclaimed as he slammed his fist on the Prosecution's desk and pointed his finger at me, as if he was raising an objection.

"HOLD IT!" I heard the shout from Mr. Justice. "The court cannot accept this into evidence. The defense requests that the forensics lab runs a test on the unknown pathogen within my client's blood!"

"Mr. Justice! What a bold and absurd claim you're making! This claim isn't going to turn the trial towards your favour!" Prosecutor replied.

"Your evidence is faulty if you didn't get the pathogen tested! This trial will crumble for you if you don't have solid evidence to support you claim!" Mr. Justice replied as he slammed his fist against his desk.

The judge pounded his gavel. "Order! Order!" He bellowed at the courtroom. "Bailiff! Tell the lab to re-test the blood to figure out what the pathogen is! It could be harmful to the defendant!"

"Sir!" was the reply from the bailiff as he ran out of the courtroom.

"Now then." The judge said as he returned his gaze to the center of the courtroom. "The prosecution may call their next witness."

"The prosecution would like to call Prosecutor Simon Blackquill to the stand!"

"Prosecutor Blackquill?!" was the startled reply from Mr. Justice.

"Hmph." I heard the sound as the tall and muscular man took the witness' stand.

"Witness, if you may." Prosecutor McCoy asked.

"I thought you already told the court who I was."

"It's protocol, Prosecutor Blackquill." Prosecutor McCoy replied.

"If you must waste more time, then fine." He straightened his posture. "The name's Simon Blackquill. I'm an ex-convict and a state prosecutor for the metropolitan area of Los Angeles."

"Ex-convict?" The judge said, surprised.

"Your Honour, he served time for about 9 years for the UR-1 Incident back in 2020." Prosecutor McCoy informed the judge.

"Oh! I remember now! You were the second person to cause the 'Dark Ages of Law'!" the judge answered.

"Enough jabbering. Let's get on with it." was the simple reply from Prosecutor Blackquill.

"Right. Now then, your testimony, Prosecutor Blackquill."

"If you must." He took a deep breath. "The defendant, I met him when we were 'prison buddies' as people would call it. It was probably the year 2024 if I can recall correctly. July, was it? Oh well. Doesn't matter really. We had a conversation in our shared cell about the sins we committed together. Nothing more, nothing less."

"I see. Thank you, Prosecutor Blackquill." the judge responded.

"OBJECTION!"

"Mr. Justice! Is there something contradictory in Prosecutor Blackquill's statement?"

"Yes. Many, in fact." he said as he nodded his head. "The defense would like to cross-examine the witness!"

"OBJECTION! Your Honour, there is no need to cross-examine the witness!"

"OBJECTION! There is indeed a need to cross-examine the witness! Who knows what was truly said in the conversation?!"

"Objection." I heard the calm, but firm outburst from Prosecutor Blackquill. "Justice-dono, the content of the conversation was nothing more than two men talking about our wrong-doings in the past. Nothing more, nothing less as I've previously stated before."

"The defense would like the defendant to confirm such conversation and it's contents!" Mr. Justice demanded. "Mr…" His sentence trailed off. "Um, what's your name again?" he asked, scratching his head and grinning.

"I… I don't remember…" I replied to his question.

"The prosecution did some research and found out that his name is apparently 'Erhard Muller'. Or at least that's the name that he was tried under back in 2012. The prosecution does not have evidence that 'Erhard Muller' is in fact, his real name."

"Erhard… Muller…?" I tried to reply but I couldn't. Every voice around me began to slur. My vision was becoming unstable. It felt cold afterwards.

* * *

"Hey!" I heard an irritable shout coming from in front of me.

I opened my eyes. I was greeted by the sight of my defense attorney and Holden looking down at me.

"Thank goodness you're awake! Recess is almost over!" Mr. Justice sighed with relief.

I sat up and I felt light-headed. I used my left hand to support my head up a little, but to no avail. "What… What…" I stumbled with my words as I tried to ask what had happened.

"In blunt terms, you fainted." Holden said blantly.

"I… What..?"

"Mr. Justice, court is about to reconvenue. Please return to the defense desk." said the bailiff.

"Right!" Mr. Justice then proceeded to enter the courtroom.

I stood up to go back into the courtroom, but I felt myself falling forward. I felt something grab me from behind to prevent me from falling further.

"Come on. You need to take the witness stand and I can't hold you up while you're standing there." I heard the gruff voice.

I tried to regain my balance as Holden lead me back into the courtroom. I don't know what was happening to me, but I felt a burning pain in my chest. Hopefully, it's nothing too bad. I'll get it diagnosed later.

* * *

"Court will now reconvene. Is the defendant fit enough to stand trial, Mr. Justice?"

"Yes, Your Honour." Mr. Justice replied while nodding his head.

"Alright. Seems like we made a fuss about nothing. Now, Mr. Justice, your cross-examination if you please."

"Certainly, Your Honour."

"This is baseless conjecture, Your Honour." Prosecutor Blackquill replied. "But if you insist, then I guess I have to."

"Prosecutor Blackquill, if you would please." the judge asked.

"The defendant, I met him when we were 'prison buddies' as people would call it."

"HOLD IT!" Mr. Justice exclaimed. "When did this happen?"

"I heard from the security guard that he was going to be spending some time with me in my cell, seeing as the other cells already had 2 occupants. I heard from the guard that he was a surgeon, working off his prison sentence and he just happened to get a client or 5 in Los Angeles."

"'Or 5'?" Mr. Justice questioned.

"What? I have no idea how many clients he had. We didn't spend a lot of time in that cell together. I had a prosecuting case that day and his surgery schedules change everyday. There wasn't a lot of time where both of us were awake and in the same cell."

The judge banged his gavel. "If the defense is done with the interrogation. Prosecutor Blackquill, if you would."

"Alright." He cleared his throat. "It was probably the year 2024 if I can recall correctly. July, was it? Oh well. Doesn't matter really."

"HOLD IT! How is the date not important?"

"Silence! I have no idea what the date was when he was transferred here."

"But when did he get transferred?"

"Justice-dono, this questioning is leading nowhere. Enough jabbering. Why does the date of when we shared a cell have anything to do with Cumberland College?"

"You're right. It doesn't." Mr. Justice realized. "Please continue, Prosecutor Blackquill."

"We had a conversation in our shared cell about the sins we committed together. Nothing more, nothing less." Prosecutor Blackquill concluded.

"OBJECTION!" Mr. Justice exclaimed. He then proceeded to present the file for the UR-1 Incident to the judge. "Your Honour, this file clearly states that Prosecutor Blackquill did not kill Métis Cykes as the court originally thought! Therefore, you did not commit a 'sin' as you phrase it!" he said as he pointed towards Prosecutor Blackquill.

"OBJECTION! What does that even prove, Mr. Justice?" was the claim from Prosecutor McCoy.

"It proves that the conversation between Prosecutor Blackquill and Doctor Muller was nothing but a lie!" Mr. Justice claimed.

The courtroom filled with chatter. Most of it was the gallery claiming that Mr. Justice was accusing me after all. The judge banged his gavel. "Order! Order! Order! I will have order in this court! Mr. Justice, what is the meaning of this baseless conjecture?"

"We have no proof that this conversation happened between my client and Prosecutor Blackquill!" Mr. Justice retorted.

"Hey!" I shouted from my seat.

"Defendant? Is there something you would like to say?"

"Yes. I'd like to take the stand."

"W-why, I haven't heard of a defendant that's willing to take the stand like this! Are you sure about this?"

"I'm positive. Prosecutor Blackquill's conversation with me will lead this case to nowhere. I never got to voice my side of the story because I couldn't remember anything that happened." I clenched my hands into fists. "I remember everything that happened that day. I would like to tell the court what exactly happened to me that day!"

The gallery broke out into a frenzy. The judge slammed his gavel and shouted at the gallery to have order. Mr. Justice looked at me in shock as well as Prosecutor McCoy. Prosecutor Blackquill's expression didn't change one bit. I took my chance. I stood up and proceeded to head to the witness' stand. The whole courtroom went silent and I could feel their piercing gaze on me at that point.

"CR-S01, you do realize you will be held in contempt of this court for lying to us 15 years prior to today, correct?" the judge told me.

"OBJECTION! Even if he's held in contempt, he's already served a false sentence, so serving more time would be immoral!" Mr. Justice objected.

"True. Fair enough. CR-S01, your testimony."

I took a deep breath. This is it. I'm finally going to get the chance to voice my side of the story. "It was just another normal day. I was in my second semester at Cumberland. My father told me that he was going to the lab early and he brought my sister with him. I was still studying hard because I had a biology test that day, so I didn't hear most of what he said. I left about an hour after he did and I went to his lab once I got to campus grounds. That was where I was greeted by a horrible sight. As soon as I walked into the virology hall, I saw 15; No. 20 people, all lying on the ground; dead or dying. I was in a state of shock. I didn't know what to do. They all exhibited the same symptoms as the lab rats that my father was using in his experiment to test the virus. After that, I felt a sharp, cold and metal-like thing pierce through my back and I collapsed. I felt paralyzed at that point. I tried to look up, but my vision became blurred. I saw him leave me behind and that was the last I ever saw of him."

The court felt silent. You could hear a pin needle drop because someone was crazy enough to bring a pin needle into the courtroom. The judge looked frozen too from my testimony. "M-Mr. J-Justice. Your cross-examination if you please…"

"It was just another normal day. I was in my second semester at Cumberland." I began.

"HOLD IT! According to the data we have at hand, you were born in 1996, correct?"

"I-I don't remember." I replied.

"Well if it was 2012 when this incident happened, you were 16 at the time!"

"OBJECTION! Mr. Justice, what does this prove? He's a prodigy!" came the rebuttal from Prosecutor McCoy. By now, Prosecutor Blackquill had moved himself to the prosecution's desk, as if he wanted to prosecute this case badly.

"Doctor Muller! Can you please confirm how you got into Cumberland College?" Mr. Justice asked me.

"I-I don't have an answer. I can't remember."

"Please, continue with your testimony." the judge asked me.

"My father told me that he was going to the lab early and he brought my sister with him. I was still studying hard because I had a biology test that day, so I didn't hear most of what he said." I continued.

"HOLD IT! Why would Professor Sartre bring your sister to the college?"

"She was the host of the Rosalia Virus. He wanted her to come probably because he wanted to test something out and he needed her blood for it."

"I see. Please continue."

"I left about an hour after he did and I went to his lab once I got to campus grounds. That was where I was greeted by a horrible sight. As soon as I walked into the virology hall, I saw 15; No. 20 people, all lying on the ground; dead or dying. I was in a state of shock. I didn't know what to do. They all exhibited the same symptoms as the lab rats that my father was using in his experiment to test the virus."

"HOLD IT! You were in on your father's research?!"

"I was his successor. I helped him cultivate the virus and study it alongside him."

"I see. And why were you studying it, may I ask?"

"The virus was suppose to be an alternative to medicine. You see, the pathogen of the virus ate away at any other infection or disease within the person. It would eat any cell that was bad. The form he was study was too aggressive. The whole goal of perfecting the virus was that it could be injected into a terminal patient and the virus will eat away at the diseased cells and then eat themselves until the virus disappears from the body."

"So why did the attack happen?"

"My father was distraught with his research. I could only imagine why."

"I see. Please continue."

"After that, I felt a sharp, cold and metal-like thing pierce through my back and I collapsed. I felt paralyzed at that point. I tried to look up, but my vision became blurred. I saw him leave me behind and that was the last I ever saw of him."

"How sad. The prodigy son of an amazing researcher became framed for an act he did not commit." the judge said in sorrow. "It is clear to me that this poor boy is innocent after 15 years of false imprisonment."

"HOLD IT!" I heard the shout come from the prosecution's desk. Prosecutor McCoy was raising an objection. "The defendant did not state what he was stabbed with in the back!"

"OBJECTION! Prosecutor McCoy, even a person like you should know that a normal human being cannot turn their heads and look at their back to see something like that happen to them!" Mr. Justice exclaimed as he slammed his fists against the desk.

Just as Mr. Justice finished knocking down the prosecution's claim, the bailiff stormed into the courtroom. "Your Honour! The results from the blood test are back!" he said, exhausted and huffing to catch his breath.

"Bailiff! What do the results say?" The judge demanded.

"There were actually 2 pathogens present in the defendant's blood! The first pathogen is an amnesia inducing agent! With the technology that just came out, that pathogen has been in his system for about 15 years!"

"Why, this incident happened 15 years ago!" the judge realized. "This alone proves that the defendant is innocent and was wrongfully charged!" The judge picked up his gavel. "Prisoner No. CR-S01, The court system wrongfully accused you of committing the bioterrorist attack at Cumberland College 15 years ago. No amount of money can compensate for the years of life that we robbed of you. This court finds you-"

"OBJECTION!"

The courtroom jolted in surprise. Mr. Justice was raising an objection.

"Mr. Justice! You practically won the case! What are you possibly objecting to?!" the judge demanded.

"Your Honour, what was the other pathogen found inside his blood?" Mr. Justice asked.

"It says 'amnesia inducing agent and undefined pathogen found inside blood'. There's nothing else about the other pathogen." the judge answered.

"I see…" he replied.

"Now then, if there are no more objections from BOTH the defense and prosecution, this court finds Prisoner No. CR-S01 NOT GUILTY!" he said as he slammed his gavel. Cheers came from the audience in the gallery. Mr. Justice seemed relieved, but I could also see a slight amount of worry in his expression.

"Court is adjourned!" the judge said as he slammed the gavel and dismissed everyone.

* * *

"We did it! Congratulations, Doctor Muller!" Mr. Justice said as he grinned.

"Thank you, Mr. Justice." I replied.

"Hmph, not bad, Justice-dono." I heard the voice from behind me.

"Prosecutor Blackquill!" Mr. Justice said in shock.

"This state's court system is such a bother. The prosecution calls me in as a witness and my testimony is utterly useless. I wonder why I agreed to come in the first place." I heard Prosecutor Blackquill mumble under his breath.

Holden appeared behind Prosecutor Blackquill. "You." he said at me. "Where are you going to go now? Since your name's been cleared."

"I plan on going to Los Angeles. I heard that Resurgam here in Portland got closed due to the new hospital that's being built in its place and that all of them got transferred to Hope Hospital in California. Hopefully I can go there and get a job there at least." I replied.

"I got the plane ticket!" Mr. Justice butted in.

"The 3 of us plan on returning to Los Angeles together." Prosecutor Blackquill added.

"I see." Holden said as he came closer to me. He took out a key and unlocked the cuffs on my wrists. "Go on. I heard there's a situation happening over at UCLA and I think it would be beneficial for you to go there."

"A situation?" I asked.

Just as Holden has said that, the news came on the television in the lobby.

"There is a massive panic at UCLA as a whole conference room in the archeology was filled with dead corpses was found over an hour ago! The police already have a suspect in custody and a lot of the evidence found points to the suspect's guilt in this bioterrorist attack! We have just received word that renowned defense attorney, Phoenix Wright, will be taking on the defense of this case and the prosecution's team leader will be Chief Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth! We will have more on this as the news keeps rolling in!" the reporter on the screen was saying.

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"Archeology? Wait. Professor Layton is visiting LA because of archeology conferences at UCLA!" Mr. Justice realized. "We have to get back to LA!"

"How? Our plane isn't going to come for another 3 hours! And with the panic of a new bio infection, Los Angeles will be in a quarantine! There's no way they'll let us land at LAX and our flight home is pretty much cancelled!" Prosecutor Blackquill reasoned.

"Come on. I have a helicopter and I work for the FBI. I can get you guys past the quarantine and onto the ground to assess the damage." Holden said seriously.

"Come on! We don't have a lot of time! Innocent lives are at stake!" I shouted.

* * *

We landed in Los Angeles about 4 hours after we left the courtroom. Holden thought it was best if we landed at Hope Hospital to assess the severity of this infection. I jumped out of the helicopter and stormed my way through the building, passing by Doctor Stiles and Doctor Cunningham's joint office. I got into the elevator and I press and held the button that would bring me to ground level. The elevator moved faster that way.

As soon as I walked out of the elevator, I was greeted by nothing more than an emergency ward filled with people who had normal emergencies.

The pain in my chest grew stronger. I could see Doctor Cunningham walking from another hall and I fell forward; gripping my chest. I could hear faint shouts and then I couldn't remember anything after that.

* * *

A/N: That was a lot of words. My back hurts.


	5. Chapter 4- Markus Vaughn

Chapter 4

A/N: So I kind of went crazy with the last chapter because it was over 5000 words and pretty much a quarter of them were mistakes (because my brain was confusing Professor and Doctor and Mr. and yeah). I had it fixed and proceeding with yet another not as intense and shorter chapter. Plus I'm also debating whether I should move this story into the Ace Attorney and Trauma Center crossover section or not due to the lack of Professor Layton so far.

* * *

"What do you mean I have to prep for surgery?! Valerie, are you insane?" I retorted.

"Markus! This man's going to die if we don't do anything about it! We have no choice but to perform this operation now or else we're going to face a lawsuit or something even worse!" my colleague, Valerie Blaylock's reply to my endless questioning.

"Markus, she has a point. Kid's gonna die if you don't do it." I heard the smooth and calm reply from my other colleague, Gabriel Cunningham. "This kid's valuable to Caduceus. He's the person who helped us solve the Rosalia outbreak 9 years ago."

"You mean this kid's-"

"-The doctor under alias CR-S01?!" Valerie finished my sentence.

"Yes! Why I'm surprised you didn't know." Gabe replied.

"Dammit, Gabe! What am I doing?! I don't have time to stall!" I shouted at him as I ran out of the room and to the other side of the hospital.

"Doctor Vaughn! Wait!" I heard Valerie and my nurse, Elena Salazar yell behind me.

My name is Markus Vaughn and I'm a surgeon employed by Caduceus USA. At this point in time, I've just flown back from San Diego after what was a failure of a surgery with Doctor Stiles. The guilt is haunting me as I'm running down the hallways and into the operating room. Every time a patient dies on me, I strive to save every last one. I know that some patients die because sometimes, it would be near impossible to save them, but I couldn't see them go like that.

"Get out of the way! Surgeon coming through!" I shouted as I made my way through the crowds at the emergency ward. I caught a glimpse of the people there. More and more were piling into the ward with some sort of mutatious crystal growing on their skin. Some were white crystals and most were black, coal-like crystals. "What's going on?!" I demanded the nearest nurse I could get a hold of.

"Oh Doctor Vaughn! It's terrible! There was a bioterrorist attack at UCLA and the people coming into the emergency ward are all infected with something similar to what happened down at the university!" she replied in a panic. "I have to go! Doctor Torres needs all the help possible in stabilizing the people in this ward before she goes out on a call!"

"A bioterrorist attack?!" Valerie said in a shocked and horrified voice. "You don't suppose…"

"A repeat of Stigma, GUILT and Rosalia? Could be. We don't know the information now; We're focused on saving our patient right now! Let's go!" I barked.

"Right!" Elena and Valerie replied back.

* * *

"You're up against something new, Vaughn." I heard the monotone and probably cold phrase from someone all too familiar.

"Doctor Niguel." I replied. "I suppose you're not here to assist me."

"Actually, I am. I need to collect research data on this new pathogen." he answered.

"So it's a pathogen?" Valerie asked.

"Can't be anything else." I answered. "Let's begin the operation!" I grabbed the antibiotic gel and the scalpel. "Whatever you are, I will eradicate you." I whispered to myself.

I sprayed on the gel to the incision area above his heart and I proceeded to cut into the skin. I took some of the forceps and pried the skin to either side. I went further into the body and revealed the heart.

"What the hell?!" Valerie shouted. "What is that?"

"This…!"

"It's Savato, is it not?" Doctor Niguel questioned. "Incinerate the outer shell with the laser! It's the only way to weaken the bug."

I grabbed the laser and began to point and incinerate the outer shell. It's Savato that's affecting the heart of this kid, isn't it? There shouldn't be a problem, knowing that Savato is about the same as Cardia in a sense. This process of incinerating the outer shell using a laser is painstaking process. Trust me; Every time I weaken it enough to cut it, the little thing just decides to create more lacerations in the organ and create more of the web as it rebuilds its shell as I suture the lacerations and cut down the web. Good old fashion parasitism. I hate it.

"There! Doctor Vaughn! It's your chance now; Cut the Savato with the scalpel and get ready to activate the Healing Touch!" Elena ordered.

I acted fast and cut the little bugger with the scalpel and I got my hand in ready position to activate the Healing Touch. The Savato bug began to react to the incision and I was about to go at it. Suddenly twin parasites came out of the heart and began to attack the Savato.

"What the hell?!"

"It's Cheir! The vitals! Markus, the patient is going into ventricular fibrillation!" Valerie shouted as she ordered one of the standby nurses to get the defibrillator machine. "Here, focus on the Cheir. I'll inject stabilizer and suture the lacerations."

"Thanks, Val." I replied.

I picked up the laser and began to push the fused Cheir off of the heart, giving Valerie some space and time to suture up some of the wounds. The little pathogen moved faster and made a deep wound on the kid's heart. Immature Savato began to fill out of the laceration. I acted fast and began to move the laser around like crazy, trying to destroy the small, pillbug-like things. I lost focus on the Cheir, but the Cheir was nowhere to be found.

"What?! Elena, quickly hand me the ultrasound!" I barked. "I have to find the Cheir body!"

Elena handed me the ultrasound. "Doctor Vaughn! Watch the vitals!"

He went into flatline. "Shit! Val, the defibrillator!"

She worked in sync with me and charged the paddles. "Clear!" she shouted as she tried to jolt the heartbeat back. "Damn… One more time! Increase the voltage!" she pressed the paddles onto his chest again. The vitals didn't come back. "No! We can't lose him! Markus!"

I began to palpate the organ. Only choice left, really. Now was my chance to activate the Healing Touch. I moved my fingers in the motion, but nothing happened. I tried again, but time didn't slow down or stop at all.

"No! The Healing Touch won't work!" I realized.

"Dammit, Doctor Vaughn! We need to revive him! Continue palpating the organ!" Doctor Niguel demanded.

I kept palpating the organ. As if by a miracle, his heartbeat came back and his vitals began to stabilize. "That was close." I said, relieved.

"The battle hasn't been won yet, Markus. There's still something else in his heart that we have to get at." Valerie informed me.

The Cheir returned and I began to ready the laser to burn it when it combusts and disappears, leaving behind a deep wound. A black, claw-like bruise began to form on the heart.

"This bruise! It can't possibly be…" Elena said, worried and shocked.

"Rosalia too?! What kind of pathogen is this?!" Doctor Niguel responded in disbelief. "Doctor Vaughn, you got to deal with this before his body goes into shock."

"Urgh, I know! Dammit, why doesn't my Healing Touch work?!" I wanted to know. "Valerie, inject the stabilizer into him! Get his vitals maxed out and try using your Healing Touch!"

"Markus! That's insane!" she protested. Nonetheless, she did it anyways. As I focused on mending the deep wound in his heart, she injected stabilizer into him and began to move her hands in the motion to activate her Healing Touch, Vital Lock. No luck. "It's not working for me either!"

"Then I guess we have no choice. We're doing it the old fashion way." I stated. "Since we can't use the Healing Touch, we have to save him in 10 minutes or less."

"10 minutes? Can we really destroy Rosalia in 10 minutes?" Elena questioned my rash descion.

"What choice do we have? Now or never, Val."

"You're right. A doctor does everything they can to save their patients. Let's take the gamble." she replied firmly.

"Couldn't have said it better myself…" I muttered. "Let's end this."

I grabbed the ultrasound and found 3 tumor-like shapes under the heart's surface. Valerie cut open each one and I took the drain and drained the pools of blood while she sutured them together. We worked in unison; Nothing from the outside world could bother us at all. I felt like we were in a different universe together. It felt… Surreal.

The Rosalia was reacting to whatever we were doing. We injected the antiviral drug into the heart to stop the spread of the disease throughout the body. The ultrasound picked up on a reaction coming from inside his heart. Valerie moved to spread antibiotic gel onto the heart and I cut open the heart. We dove deeper into the mystery and we found a black, circular type thing lodged inside of the organ.

'This is the bomb-like thing from a few hours ago!' I thought.

Valerie reached into the heart and grabbed the device. It wasn't attached to anything and she tossed it into the tray and Doctor Niguel took it back to his lab to do further research on it. The Rosalia colony inside his heart was present under the device. I was ready to inject the antiserum when little, fine white particles began to circle around the colony. The particles attacked the Rosalia colony until it was all gone. I didn't know what to do, so I put antibiotic gel onto the particles and they all disappeared before our eyes. Valerie and I snapped out of our trances.

"Doctor Vaughn! Doctor Blaylock!" Elena cried.

"What just happened…? Valerie wondered.

"I don't know, but good thing the vitals are stable. Let's close the kid up." I replied. "It's finally over…"

Valerie sutured the kid back together and bandaged him up. "Operation complete. We… did... it…" she said as she collapsed into my arms.

I felt weak. I fell back and I blacked out.

* * *

"Ugh…." I groaned as I opened my eyes. I put my hands on my head and tried to comfort the throbbing pain in my head. "What the hell…"

"Thank goodness you're awake, Doctor Vaughn." I heard a feminine voice say softly. "You passed out after the surgery. Doctor Blaylock did too. Are you alright?"

"Who is this…" I asked, half-dazed. "You sound like…"

"Ah! Sorry. It's me, Tomoe Tachibana; The endoscopic surgeon." she replied. "I was told to check in on you two."

"What happened? To us, that is." I said as I began to sit up.

"Careful, Doctor Vaughn! You struck your head on the defibrillator. Please don't make rash and quick movements." Doctor Tachibana replied calmly, but with worry.

"What…?" I said as I looked to my left. I could see Valerie beside me on another bed. She looked so peaceful, sleeping. I stood up and grabbed my white coat that was sitting on the end of my bed. I rested the coat on my shoulders and walked out of the room.

"Doctor Vaughn! Where are you going?" Doctor Tachibana inquired.

"To go see Doctor Niguel."

* * *

"I did an analysis on the circular device extracted from your heart and it looks like it's a bomb of some sort and it's filled with a pathogen. This pathogen is shown to contaminate the blood of the person who has it. The bomb was suppose to blow up or combust when the area containing the device was opened. It's activated by light and blood. The question is, why didn't it go off when Doctor Vaughn opened up your heart?" I heard the voice of Doctor Niguel as I walked into his lab.

"Activated by light and blood?" I heard another voice. "It sounds familiar for some reason."

"Maybe it should. Some professor at Cumberland was apparently studying something like this in 2007 or something. Heard that guy disappeared off of the face of the earth before the incident." Doctor Niguel shrugged. "You should look into it."

"Doctor Niguel." I said as I entered the lab.

"It's a bomb with a pathogen in it, Vaughn. Same shit happened in San Diego apparently. Heard the patient died."

"Yeah. Derek's taking it hard. I had to come back though." I replied.

"Typical of him. He was like that when a GUILT sinner died. Lost his Healing Touch during that time too." Doctor Niguel recalled. "By the way, I've been trying to look into why you couldn't use your Healing Touch, but I haven't found anything yet."

"I see." I replied. "Well, I guess I'll leave you to do whatever it is you're doing." I said as I looked at the hundreds of trays on his desk.

"Wait, Doctor Vaughn." I heard the other voice call out.

I turned around. "Oh. You." I answered as I looked at him. The kid who was apparently the one who caused Cumberland College.

"I think I might know what's going on. Something's coming back to me, but I can't put my tongue on it." he told me. "I feel like it's connected to my stolen memories."

"Stolen, huh?" I asked. "Focus on recovering first, Kid. I know someone who can help you."

"You do?"

"Might be a long shot, but I think I can get her to come do a scan on you. She's the best analytical psychologist in Los Angeles. She works at the same firm as your lawyer for your retrial."

"You're talking about Athena, aren't you all?" I heard another louder voice coming from the entrance to the lab.

I turned around. "Mr. Justice."

"Geez, Markus, we've known each other since university. Calm down with the formalities for once." Apollo replied.

"Whatever you say, Apollo."

"If it's a psychoanalysis, I got you covered. Athena owes me a favour or 3." he beamed.

"Still the player from the frat life, Justice? Thought you changed after the bar exam." I snorted. His face turned 10 shades of red. Almost as red as his suit. It made me laugh harder. "So around noon tomorrow then?" I said as I tried to catch my breath.

"Y-yeah… Sure…" He replied meekly.

I walked past him while giving him a hard slap on his shoulder. "Mad wheels, Justice. Mad wheels." I laughed as I walked out of the lab.

* * *

What happened in the operating room? Why did I feel so odd when Valerie and I worked on the kid? I had so many questions and no answers. Could this be a new skill? I can't be too sure. I remember something like this that happened a while ago, but what was it?

* * *

A/N: Chapters might be coming out later and later as my writers block gets worse and worse. Good thing Winter Break starts early this year because I'll be writing more and more for this story. I also have a poem fic for another series, but doubt it matters really.

By the way, thought I might as well say this, but Chapters 1, 2, and 3 are all written as if they were all simultaneous while the Prologue set the situation. Now the next chapters going on will be written as if it's chronological. Sorry for the confusion.


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